Plot vs. Humor

[kpenguin]

It has been widely said that Plot>Rules and Humor>Real-World Physics and so forth. However, which is more important in this webcomic? Plot or Humor.

Humor: The comic began with one-strip gags and without much plot beyond "kill Xykon"

Plot: The comic also contains strips that advance the plot considerably, making little to no jokes

What do you guys think?

This would have worked so well as a poll.

[David Demola]

I think switching it up every-other-comic (more or less, at times, depending on which needs more focus)) like Rich has been doing it is preferable. It's just serious enough for a decent storyline which can create characters that people can get behind (like how people seem to adore Miko and Belkar), and just funny enough to make people smile (sometimes the humor is dependent upon the fact that people can get behind the characters, such as Belkar's "Sexy, Shoeless God Of War" line).

[The Wanderer]

I think plot might have a slight edge. Humor often serves the grand, overall arch of Plot, but Plot seldom turns aside or changes for the sake of humor beyond one or two strips at a time, before it begins nudging the story along again.

Plot is the ultimate winner, but what makes OOTS and Rich so good is that it's done without the plot being heavy handed, and a lot of the time you forget that that the more obvious humor often subtly serves plot points.

(Take comic 465 as an example: humor may have been the main point, but look at all the ways the plot was served: we confirmed that Redcloak would survive, that the Hobgoblin army was largely intact and still willing to follow the Redcloak/Xykon combo, that Redcloak and Xykon were still determined to use the gates, established how Tsuikiko falls into the pecking order of Team Evil, [and the continuing potential for a division between her and the rest of the Team] and have set the stage for Team Evil getting ready to lead the Hob army to the next Gate. That's actually a lot of plot and character relationships being worked out and established in the midst of that humor).

[Truthseeker]

For me this is a bit like asking, "Which leg is most important to the way you walk, the right or the left?" Which is to say that without one or the other, I'd be doing really good just to stay standing for very long. ;)

[ThorFluff]

For me this is a bit like asking, "Which leg is most important to the way you walk, the right or the left?" Which is to say that without one or the other, I'd be doing really good just to stay standing for very long. ;)

QFT.
But i think i could survive reading like 5 or so strips without humor aslong as it moves the plot along, allthough 5 pages without plot and just humor would be funny, it'd annoy the hell out of me.

[ishnar]

It has been widely said that Plot>Rules and Humor>Real-World Physics and so forth. However, which is more important in this webcomic? Plot or Humor.

Humor: The comic began with one-strip gags and without much plot beyond "kill Xykon"



I think it's just a sign of growth. Megatokyo was the same way. One page gags and it slowly turned into a major plot web comic.

The problem with a strict 1 page gag is, it is more forgettable. Especially when a comic grows into hundreds of pages. All of the gags blend together and become progressively hackneyed over time as it becomes harder and harder to come up with one liners. A good plot makes the overall comic more memorable and creates potential for jokes with a longer set-up. After, many jokes are based on context. A story also creates greater urgency in the reader's part to avoid missing any issues. OTOH, storyless comics like nodwick and Far Side while having great gags sometimes, are more easily neglected. There is very little, if any, urgency to see the next comic.

Now that Dragon is no longer buying comics, a good storyline will retain more readers. At the same time, there is no reason that a good story can't also contain lots of jokes too.

[sun_tzu]

I'll take plot over humor.
But I love OOTS's humor.
It's just that, well, the plot is awesome.

[Setra]

I prefer plot to humor, however the best stories have a good plot to humor ratio.

OotS has a Plot:Humor Ratio of 2:3, I'd wager.

Preferably, every story would have a Plot:Humor ratio of 2:1. This is just personal preferance though.

Edit: I have only half a clue about what I mean. However hopefully I get my point across.